Starting this fall, the WNMU School of Nursing and Kinesiology will be offering a new graduate certificate with a focus on Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP).
The development of the new program is due largely to the efforts of Associate Professor of Nursing Kathy Van Ravenstein, who was recruited by the School of Nursing to direct the program. “When this opportunity came up to develop the FNP program [at WNMU],” said Van Ravenstein, “I thought it was awesome because I have taught in multiple different FNP programs, and I kind of know what is good, what is bad, what works, what doesn’t, so I thought it would be a great thing to develop a new program and see what we can do with it.”
According to Van Ravenstein, the program will be an online post-MSN certificate. Students can be from anywhere in the country, but they need to have a master’s degree in nursing and at least one year experience working as a nurse.
Van Ravenstein said that the program is especially well suited to students that work in rural settings. “We are hoping to get some providers from out in the rural areas of New Mexico or other areas where patients can’t get to the big city easily to get health care.”
“I really hope that we can admit students to the program that are committed to rural and frontier care and who want to go out and take care of patients in the underserved areas,” she added. “I would love to see the program grow.”
Some of the distinguishing features of the program are the small class sizes and the fact that it can be completed in just over a year, said Van Ravenstein, and the program was designed to be doable for those who are working full-time. “It is a 27-credit program that will take a year and a semester to complete,” she said. “Students can start in the summer, fall or spring and get through the program in five semesters. All of the courses will be available every semester, so it makes the degree attainable.” The program is 100% online.
Students in the program will have the opportunity to gain substantial hands-on experience through the required clinical hours. “I think that is going to well prepare students to feel comfortable when they do go out to practice,” Van Ravenstein explained. “I think it is really important that students have that practice time.”
In addition to the preparation through clinicals, students will also have access to test banks, videos and other materials through the School of Nursing’s partnership with APEA, a nursing education organization that helps prepare graduate nursing students for their certification exam. “One of the last courses students will take is a complete review course for the certification exam,” said Van Ravenstein. “So they are going to graduate prepared for the exam and ready to practice.”
In the long term, she said, she hopes the School of Nursing can get other certificate programs going, perhaps even a DNP program. “I am really passionate about education and about training nurse practitioner students to go out and be prepared to care for patients,” she said.
